Warriors notebook: Rest comes just in time for Andrew Bogut

OAKLAND -- The competitor in him didn't want to feel good about losing. Golden State's season ended with Friday's Game 6 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

But Warriors center Andrew Bogut couldn't deny what his body was telling him, specifically his surgically repaired left ankle.

"You don't want to say you're relieved losing a game," he said before his exit interviews at the team facility on Friday. "At the same time, the mental and physical pain I felt the last two or three weeks was getting worse and worse. For the season to end wasn't a terrible thing, but the way it ended was disappointing."

Bogut proved he could be a difference-maker. He was a big reason the Warriors came within two wins from the Western Conference finals. But he was also the reason Golden State didn't advance, as his lack of presence was a major blow to the Warriors.

Dominant early, Bogut faded as the series against San Antonio evolved. By the fourth quarter of Game 6, he was done. He said he could hardly move because of his ankle.

Bogut said he could sometimes feel the tearing of the scar tissue from his surgery in April 2012. When that happened, swelling would follow, leading to pain and immobility. He said he stepped on a foot in Game 5 and it was all downhill from there.

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"I managed it every day. Every day was a battle, basically, after April," he said. "Every day I had to come in early to get treatment, just to get it right just enough to get back on the court. My whole playoff campaign was that. Once we started going every other day with the Spurs, it just got worse and worse."

Bogut, who will spend his offseason in Australia and Croatia, said being healthy would allow him to recapture his offensive game. He said he will work out while resting his ankle to avoid adding body fat, since the heavier he is the more pounding his ankle takes.

He said his plan is to play 82 games next season, the last year of his contract ($14.2 million). He said he is encouraged by what he was able to do with a bad left wheel and is convinced he is the answer for the Warriors in the middle.

"I'm excited to get to this offseason and get this ankle right," Bogut said. "I anticipate that three or four months rest should do a world of wonders."

Rookie forward Harrison Barnes showed off his six stitches Friday. He called them war wounds from Game 6.

Barnes sustained a laceration above his right eye, just below his brow, when he hit his head on the court in the first half.

"I didn't see the blood," Barnes said. "I remember Steph (Curry) was like, 'Stay down. Stay down.' I opened my eyes, and there were like 20 people standing around me."

Golden State officials said Barnes passed the league-mandated concussion tests.

The NBA's concussion policy dictates any player suspected of having a concussion or concussion symptoms is to be removed from play and evaluated. If the diagnosis is a concussion, that player is not allowed to return the same day. Barnes said he was itching to get back on the court, but the medical staff held him out until he passed the tests.

Curry said he's been dropping lines to guard Jarrett Jack for a while, telling the free-agent-to-be guard he needs to stay with the Warriors.

"This is the place for him," Curry said. "He's bounced around a lot. For him to have hopefully found a home here for the foreseeable future would be huge. I know he wants to be part of a winning team, and I think we have that here now."

Jack will be an unrestricted free agent come July 1. Forward Carl Landry, who has a $4 million player option for next season, can also become a free agent.

The Warriors, however, are expected to be over the luxury tax next season as Curry's extension kicks in, increasing his salary by $6 million.

A team source confirmed reports coach Mark Jackson hired super agent Arn Tellem and fired Steve Kauffman. The move happened months ago, but the source said it was not part of Jackson's plan to get a new contract form Golden State.

Jackson hired Kauffman presuming he had to hire an agent of coaches. When he learned he could retain Tellem, Jackson's representative as a player, Jackson made the switch.

Tellem is Warriors general manager Bob Myers' former boss and close friends with executive board member Jerry West.

Jackson has two seasons left on his contract, next season is guaranteed and the Warriors hold an option for 2014-15. Without any further guarantees, Jackson would enter next season as a virtual lame duck in potentially his final contract year.